Volunteer River Thames lockkeepers sought (From Bucks Free Press)
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Volunteer River Thames lockkeepers sought
1:00pm Sunday 24th February 2013 in News By James Nadal
Volunteer River Thames lockkeepers sought
VOLUNTEER lock keepers are being sought out by the Environment Agency along the River Thames.
Working alongside professional weir keepers, the helpers will aid boats navigating the locks and gain real hands-on experience in operating the locks .
Dorothy Eggleton, 68, who volunteers at Hambleden lock between Henley and Marlow, said: "It’s such a varied job at the lock; on one of my days in the summer I weeded the steps that the Queen would walk up when the royal yacht passed through Hambleden."
Email thames.volunteers@environment-agency.gov.uk or call 01491 828360.
Comments(2)
DonRockell
says...
7:50pm Tue 26 Feb 13
shakesheadindisbelief says...
3:13pm Sun 24 Feb 13
Lock keeper redundancies
In recent years, British Waterways is believed to have made its few remaining full time lock keepers redundant. In particular, numerous press reports related the story of Atherstone's lock keeper, Tony Wright, who was made redundant despite opposition from local residents and boaters. The locks are now operated by volunteers.
Tony, who was very active in promoting the waterways locally, was awarded the MBE for services to the waterways in 2005. However, he was made redundant just as British Waterways started to increase its use of volunteer lock keepers.